Healthy lifestyle

If you want to eat healthily, making your own meals (most of the time) is not an option but a necessity. It’s the best way to have a say in the ingredients, add variation to your overall diet and limit your intake of refined sugar, trans fats and artificial flavours.

Now, I love cooking. And I love all the amazing, wholesome recipes on food blogs these days. But honestly, after a long day of running around after a one-year old, squeezing in writing and household chores during naps, it sometimes feels like too much effort to cut up tons of veggies and spend an hour behind the stove.

You’ve probably felt the same way when you’ve had a tiring day, whether that’s because of work, illness or way too active kids.

And while it’s tempting to just shove a pizza in the oven whenever you’re too tired to cook, as a rule it’s better to find a healthy alternative to ordering takeout or heating up microwaved meals. Processed foods often contain too much salt, too little veg and an addictive combo of high sugar/high fat. And frankly, most convenience meals are just plain bland in taste compared to a home cooked dinner.

So let’s have a look how you can still put a nutritious meal on the table when you’re running low on energy.

Summer is officially over and schools are back in session all over the world. It marks a new beginning, a fresh start to rebuild healthy habits after an indulgent summer break with one too many glasses of wine and lazy days in the sun.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with living life and treating yourself. As Hayley from Full of Life rightfully points out, what’s the point of working hard to feel as healthily as possible, if you aren’t doing anything aside from obsessing about your diet and workout plan?

But when it comes to ‘bad’ habits, there’s often a sliding scale. It starts innocently, with big BBQ’s and ice cream cones on the beach and staying up way too late and skipping yoga class, “because it’s summer, we’re on vacation, let’s live a little” (and you should!).

But then the holidays are over and all of a sudden you find yourself mindlessly eating a bowl of cookie dough ice-cream in front of the TV every night and it becomes harder and harder to break a habit you didn’t mean to have in the first place.

This time of year, with the changing of the seasons and faux back-to-school feel, is a fitting moment to re-examine your health habits, let go off what isn’t working and embrace new things.

So here are 11 expert strategies to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle.

Going on holiday abroad is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture, language and delicacies. During your travels you might also catch a glimpse of what people all over the world do every day to lead healthy and happy lives. From Spanish siestas and the longevity secrets of the Blue Zones to the Japanese forest bathing and Balinese smiling meditation, pearls of wisdom can be found everywhere.

Not to mention the countless medicinal plants and spices, health-boosting dance rituals and healing massage techniques that form the basis of so many cultures around the globe.

So bring home a more lasting souvenir than the touristy stuff in the local gift shop and pick up a few healthy habits from your destination.

And hey, you don’t even have to leave the house, because I’ve got 8 of the world’s best health tips rounded up just for you.

What’s more relaxing on a lazy summer day than getting lost in a good beach read? While I do prefer reading fiction from paper books when I’m on holiday, there’s a lot of great info online about health and psychology that’s worth checking out. So whether you’re lying in your hammock, killing time on the airport or simply sitting in your garden with your tablet in hand, here are some of the hottest articles on having a healthy and happy holiday. Enjoy!

A record breaking heat wave has hit Europe this week. What better way to cool down on a hot day than with ice cream? And the good news is, you don’t need any fancy equipment to make your own popsicles with wholesome ingredients! Just blend your favorite fresh fruits with a liquid of your choice (coconut water, plant-based milk, Greek yoghurt), pour the result in popsicle molds and put it in the freezer. You could even sneak in some extra goodness like veggies and avocado if you’d like!

Here are 10 finger-licking good recipes for healthy popsicles. Which one will you try first?

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The Health Sessions

Your weekly dose of in-depth advice on a healthy lifestyle and coping with chronic illness.

About me

I’m a psychologist living with chronic illness. I want to help you feel as energetic, symptom-free and happy as possible, by showing you how to create lasting health habits and by giving you advice on how to cope with (chronic) health problems.